NJ AGWUNA is a freelance director of stage and screen who is currently devising and directing The Supaupa Kid at Barrington Stage Company. She approaches theater with curiosity and wonder, believing that theater can not only heal us, but show us all the possibilities of the world that we inhabit. She has worked on a national and international scale exploring classic text, developing new plays, devising theatrical experiences through myth and spectacle, and investigating new ways to explore trauma and mental illness through theater. Some of her previous credits include: 7 Minutes by Sefano Mesini (AD, Waterwell & Working Theatre), Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (AD, Helen Hayes), The Magic Flute (Glimmerglass Festival), The Woman’s Party by Rinne B. Groff (AD, ClubbedThumb), Polaroid Stories (LIU Post), Till: A Musical (won Best Direction), The Lover by Harold Pinter (DirectorFest 2020), Blanks by Gethsemane Herron-Coward (JAG Fest, Fire This Time Festival), Lysistrata (The New School of Drama), The Tempest (Lenfest), Freedom Train (TWUSA National Tour ‘18, ‘19), Endangered! the Eco-Musical (AD), What She Found (won Best Drama at FRIGID). She is a Drama League alum, an associate writer and teaching artist with Tectonic. Directing MFA – Columbia University; SDC – associate. njagwuna.com.

NGOZI ANYANWU. Education: University of California, San Diego (MFA in Acting); Point Park University (BA Theatre Arts). Acting: The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, The City Theatre, Barrington Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and The Mark Taper Forum. Television credits include starring in the upcoming limited series “Invitation to a Bonfire” on AMC. Playwriting: Seven Deadly Sins (Drama Desk Award), Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, and NIKE or We Don’t Need Another Hero. Good Grief (Kilroys List 2016, semi finalist Princess Grace, Humanitas Award) was produced at Center Theatre Group (the Kirk Douglas) in Los Angeles (2017) and Off-Broadway at The Vineyard Theatre (2018) which Anyanwu also starred in. NIKE (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T. and Space on Ryder Farm and New York Stage and Film. The Homecoming Queen (Kilroys List 2017, Leah Ryan Finalist) had its world premiere at Atlantic Theater in 2018 which also had a sold out run. She also recently wrote and starred in her play The Last of the Love Letters at Atlantic Theater Company (2021). Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film and Page 73. She is also commissioned with NYU, Two Rivers, The Old Globe, Steppenwolf and Atlantic Theater and is recipient of the Creative Rebuild New York program, where she will be an artist in Residence with Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre.

BORNA BARZIN is a Brooklyn-based director of Iranian heritage from the San Francisco Bay Area. Directing credits include <<when we write with ashes>> (National Queer Theater, Lincoln Center), Pinching Pennies with Penny Marshall (New York Theatre Workshop), The Mad Dog Blues (The Hive), and How I Learned to Drive (Sibiu International Theatre Festival). Borna has worked at theaters such as Lincoln Center, Berkeley Rep, Atlantic Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Huntington Theater, Echo Theater, and The TEAM. Borna is the Associate Casting Director of the National Tour of Oklahoma! as well as a member of the Roundabout Director’s Group and the Mercury Store Director’s Lab, a former fellow at New York Theater Workshop, and a Colt Coeur Resident Artist. bornabarzin.com 

BLEU BECKFORD-BURRELL is a first-generation Jamaican-American actor/playwright. Born and raised in New York City, she works for non-profit organizations where she teaches acting, playwriting and directing to teens. Her plays include: P.S.365 (2019 O’Neill Finalist) showcased at EST (Youngblood Workshop Series) and The National Black Theatre (Keep the Soul Alive reading series); Lyons Pride (2020 Burman New Play Award Finalist, 2019 The Kilroy’s Honorable Mention, and Yale Drama Series Award Runner-up, 2018 BAPF, Princess Grace Award Finalist) showcased at Playwrights Realm (Ink’d Festival of New Plays) and EST (Bloodwork Reading Series); La Race (2020 Normal Ave Finalist and Theatre503 International Playwright Award, O’Neill, BAPF, 2021 Princess Grace Semi-finalist); and Page73 (Fall 2022 Production). She is a MacDowell Fellow (2022), Page73 Fellow (2021), The Playwrights Realm Fellow (2018), PWC New Voices Fellowship (2018, Finalist), NYTW/2050 Fellowship (2019, Finalist), as well as an I73 playwright (2020), Colt Coeur resident (2021), PWC Core Writer (2020, Finalist), WP Lab (2020, Finalist), Working Farm (2019, Semi-Finalist), etc. She received the 2020 Playwrights Horizons, Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman Commission for Emerging Playwrights, 2021 South Coast Repertory, Elizabeth George Emerging Writer Commission and 2022 Keen Company, Keen Teens Commission. M.F.A. Rutgers University. BleuBeckford.com

KATIE ĐỖ (she/her/hers) is a Vietnamese-American woman with a mouth from New Jersey. She writes to give voice to the Vietnamese-American diaspora and her Vietnamese lineage. Currently, she is a member of the Public’s Emerging Writers Group and is a proud alum of the Sống Collective’s Việt Writers Lab. TV writing credits include “Partner Track” on Netflix (release date TBD). Cảm ơn má vá bà ngoại.

KEIKO GREEN is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and performer, based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Her plays have been developed and/or produced by the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, ACT Theatre, the Old Globe, the Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Playwrights Realm, and Theatre Mu, among others. She is currently staffed on a new TV show for Hulu/20th TV and is developing a rom com feature film with the producers of Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. As an actor, Keiko has performed at the Denver Center of Performing Arts, Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, and the National Asian American Theatre Company, among others. Her plays range from coming-of-age comedies to large-concept horror and everything in between, exploring the unexpected connection between people from different backgrounds, as well as the internal tensions held within our bodies. She recently received her MFA in Playwriting from UC San Diego. Keiko is represented by the Gersh Agency and Anonymous Content.

CARA HINH (she/they) is an NYC-based queer, fat, mixed Viet theater director and educator originally from Indiana. They rejoice in work that speaks to the complicated and messy intersectionalities of holding a multiplicity of cultures and identities. They are a proud member of the Roundabout Directors Group Cohort 2. Prior, Cara was a 2021 Drama League Hangar Fellow, a Directing Apprentice at Actors Theatre of Louisville, SDC Observer on Hadestown, and a Learning Fellow at Baltimore Center Stage. Upcoming: Little Women @ Perseverance Theatre carahinh.com

CANDIS C. JONES. Selected credits include School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Cincinnati Playhouse), Cullud Wattah (The Public Theater), Detroit ‘67 (DC Signature Theatre), Black Solo Plays (Willamstown Theatre Festival), Shadow/Land (The Public Theater), 53% Of (The Alliance Theatre), Bitch (Page 73 Productions), Everybody (Tisch School of the Arts), The House of the Negro Insane (Bay Area Playwrights Festival), Pipeline (Detroit Public Theatre), Nike (American Conservatory Theater’s New Strands Festival),The Wolves (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Brother Rabbit (New Black Fest), Name Calling (The Kennedy Center), Morning in America (Primary Stages), and TEMBO! (Zanzibar International Film Festival). Candis is the Associate Director of Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. Her awards and Fellowships include the 2016 Lilly Award, Women’s Project Theater Lab and Drama League Director’s Fellowship. Upcoming: Clyde’s (Studio Theater), Shadow/Land (The Public Theater). candiscjones.com

PADRAIC LILLIS is the Founding Artistic Director of The Farm Theater. He directed Alex Riad’s The Wild Parrots of Campbell at The Cherry Lane Studio and In Place at Juilliard. Padraic directed the premieres of Adina Taubman’s The Road Back at The Chain Theater, Julia Brother’s I Was Right Here at the San Francisco Playhouse, Dipti Bramhandkar’s American Rookie at Luna Stage, Legrid Stephen’s A Perigrine Falls at The Wild Project, and Scott Hudson’s Sweet Storm for LAByrinth Theater Company. He was awarded: New York Innovative Theatre Outstanding Director for Lindsay Joy’s Rise and Fall of a Teenage Cyberqueen, NY International Fringe Festival’s Overall Excellence in directing for Lee Kaplan’s Bully, and Best Short at the Milan International Film Festival for his film Hand Over Hand. He was the Humana Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence at Centre College. Padraic is the host of The Farm Theater’s Bullpen Sessions podcast. He is a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company and a lifelong Yankee fan.

SHAYAN LOTFI has written some plays, and thankfully still wants to write. He’s been fortunate enough that some wonderful institutions have supported and developed his work, including MacDowell, The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Roundabout Theatre, South Coast Repertory, The Lark, Marble House Project, Millay, and Boston Court. He is currently working on a play for the Elizabeth George Emerging Writers Commission, and when he’s not writing he works in urban planning. 

ROGER Q. MASON (they/them) was recently touted by The Brooklyn Rail as “quickly becoming one of the most significant playwrights of the decade.” Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway at Circle in the Square (Circle Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway at MCC Theatre with Carnegie Hall, La Mama ETC, New York Theatre Workshop, New Group, The Fire This Time Festival, Dixon Place, American Theatre of Actors, Flea Theatre, and Access Theater; and regionally at McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Steep Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, Open Fist Theatre Company, EST/LA, Coeurage Theatre, Rogue Artists Ensemble, Son of Semele, and Skylight Theatre. Roger is an honoree of the Kilroys List; the Chuck Rowland Pioneer Award; the Fire This Time Festival Alumni Spotlight; and the Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Producers Award. Mason’s films have been recognized by the British Film Institute Flare Festival, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, Oscar Micheaux Film Festival, AT&T Film Award, Atlanta International Film Festival, Webby Awards, and Telly Awards. They’ve screened at the British Film Institute Flare Festival, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, Inside Out Festival (Toronto), SCAD Film Festival, Hollyshorts, Outfest and Outfest Fusion, Bentonville Film Festival, Outshine Film Festival, and the Pan African Film Festival. Mason holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College, and Northwestern University. They are a member of Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group and Primary Stages Writing Cohort, an alumnus of The Fire This Time Festival, the co-host of Sister Roger’s Gayborhood podcast, and the lead mentor of the Shay Foundation Fellowship and the New Visions Fellowship. Instagram: @rogerq.mason

JESS McLEOD is a director and social justice advocate specializing in risky new work about America. BOLD Resident Director (Woolly Mammoth); Artist-In-Residence (NYCLU); Artistic Associate, Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Resident Director, Hamilton Chicago. Regional credits include Woolly, Steppenwolf, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Goodman, San Diego Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Long Wharf, The Gift, A Red Orchid Theatre. Jess has created operas with community groups at the Lyric, musicals with incarcerated teen Chicagoans through Storycatchers Theatre, and is a Broadway Advocacy Coalition Artistic Associate. Under commission at La Jolla Playhouse and Victory Gardens. MFA, Northwestern. www.jess-mcleod.com | @mcjessmc

ALEX RIAD is an Egyptian-American writer based in New York City. He’s a part of The Lark’s Middle Eastern Writers Lab, the Literary Fellow at The Farm Theater, a member of The Actor’s Studio Playwright Unit, a former Lila Acheson Wallace American playwriting fellow at The Juilliard School, and is currently under commission at Atlantic Theater Company via the Judith Champion Launch Commission Program.  NY theater credits: The Wild Parrots of Campbell (Cherry Lane Theater), The Floor is Lava (LaMama Experimental Theatre, 2017 Planet Connections Festival Best Play), If You Ever Come by Here (The Tank), and When You Go (The Tank).

JULIANY TAVERAS (they/them/their) is a Dominican-American writer, theater-maker, and arts educator from Brooklyn, NY. They currently have a commission from Children’s Theatre Company, Omaha Theatre Company, and Chicago Children’s Theatre to adapt Christine Baldacchino’s children’s book Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress for the stage. Other plays include Yaelis (2020 Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship Finalist), Desarrollo (Playwrights’ Week 2018 at the Lark), The Anatomy of Light (The Kilroys List 2016, 50 Playwrights Project List 2018). Their plays have been developed/staged with Page 73, The Lark, Corkscrew Theater Festival, The Bechdel Group, WOW Café Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, and Unbound Theatre Company, among others. They are currently writing an animated film adaptation of Julian Is A Mermaid for Wynchwood Pictures and have been a staff writer for Amazon’s “With Love.” Their poetry has appeared in La Galería Magazine, Reflections on the Burden of Men, and other platforms. juliany is a graduate of Vassar College and the St. Joseph’s College Writer’s Foundry, & currently works as a teaching artist with NYC youth while continuing to develop work that navigates bodies in diaspora. julianytaveras.com

SANAZ TOOSSI is an Iranian-American playwright from Orange County, California. Her plays include English (co-production Atlantic Theater Company/Roundabout Theatre Company; NYT Critics Pick; Weissberger New Play Award; Lucille Lortel Award; Outer Critics Circle Award; Horton Foote Prize) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons; Williamstown/Audible, released 2020; Stavis Award). She is currently under commission at Atlantic Theater Company (Launch commission; Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant), Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (American Revolutions Cycle). She was the 2019 P73 Playwriting Fellow and a recipient of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award. MFA: NYU Tisch.

RAD PEREIRA (they/them) (Yo/Tú, diaspora angst) is a queer (im)migrant artist and cultural worker building consciousness between healing justice, system change, reindigenization and queer futures based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn) and Haudenosaunee territory (northern Hudson Valley). Their work in performance, education and social practice has been experienced on stages, screens, stoops and sidewalks all over Turtle Island through the support of many communities, institutions, and groups. Their book Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Performance, 1965-2020, By Those Who Lived It is available through New Village Press. They are building a Native led food sovereignty project called Iron Path Farms. They are Director of Engagement & Impact at NY Stage & Film. As an actor and director, Rad has contributed to stories at HBO, CBS, NBC, MTV, National Black Theatre, MITU350, The Public Theater, La Mama etc., Shakespeare Theatre in DC, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Bushwick Starr, Target Margin, Poetic Theater, Ars Nova, New Ohio, Sesame Street, Theatre 167 and various online media platforms.

CLARIVEL RUIZ (we, us, you) (Motherland, diaspora angst) child of the African and Indigenous Diaspora, parents from Ayiti Kiskeya (aka Hispaniola, aka the Dominican Republic and Haiti), raised in NYC on the ancestral bones and covered shrines of the Lenape people. Clarivel is an interdisciplinary artist. We make art to honor the truth of Black Indigenous people whose histories are marginalized, subverted, and consigned to the fringes of memory. In 2016 we initiated Dominicans Love Haitians Movement to celebrate our commonalities. In addition, we participated in the Black Women Artists for Black Lives Matters performance group that developed work for Simon Lee’s gallery exhibit at the New Museum. And the Brooklyn Museum’s closing event, We Wanted A Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–1985. Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative worked as an Associate Artist for Ebony Golden’s 125th Street and Freedom showcased through The National Black Theatre. In, 2020 we conducted a public performance called “Super Human 91”, attaching 91 pieces of sugar cane to protest statelessness and immigration rights. We are alumni of Hemispheric Institute’s EmergeNYC, Culture Push’s Utopian Fellow, a Civic Practice Seminar participant at the Metropolitan Museum, The Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship at CCCADI, a Brooklyn Arts Council award, and Unicorn Fund awardee through Media Democracy Fund. Clarivel is an MFA graduate of CUNY, City College.

IMANI RUSSELL (Sis, diaspora angst) is a queer Black+Boricua multi-hyphenate artist from Crown Heights (unceded Lenape land). Trained in classical music, musical theatre, and acting, Imani has performed Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and is an emerging voice-over artist. They also write music under the name NANí and recently released a two-song EP titled sweetbitter creature. Imani believes in Black queer+trans power and safety, indigenous sovereignty, and art as an act of love and community.

CARMEN ZILLES (Stage Directions, diaspora angst). Off-Broadway includes: Epiphany (Lincoln Center Theater, dir. Tyne Rafaeli), Stefano Massini’s 7 Minutes (Waterwell), Fefu and her Friends (TFANA, dir. Lileana Blain-Cruz), Scenes from a Marriage (NYTW, dir. Ivo van Hove), Small Mouth Sounds (Signature Theatre, dir. Rachel Chavkin), Little Women (Primary Stages), José Rivera’s Adoration of the Old Woman (INTAR), Chimichangas and Zoloft (Atlantic Theater Company). Regional includes: Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (Huntington Theater, dir. Liesl Tommy), The Swindlers (Baltimore Center Stage), Another Word for Beauty (Goodman Theatre), Three Sisters (Two River Theater). Film/TV: “Bel Canto” (starring Julianne Moore), “Pimp” (starring Keke Palmer), “The Good Fight”, “Blue Bloods”. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

TINA CHILIP (Babes/Debe, Her First Thanksgiving) Off-Broadway: Mothers (Playwrights Realm); Fiasco Theater’s Twelfth Night (Classic Stage Company); Golden Child (Signature Theater); House Rules, Flipzoids (Ma-Yi Theater); A Dream Play (NAATCO). Regional: Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline (Hudson Valley Shakespeare); After All The Terrible Things I Do (Huntington Theatre); tokyo fish story (Old Globe); Chinglish, Our Town, Kodachrome (Portland Center Stage); M Butterfly (Guthrie); Actors Theatre of Louisville; Berkeley Rep; Cincinnati Playhouse; Syracuse Stage; Trinity Rep; and others. TV: “Law & Order: SVU,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Jessica Jones,” “It’s Bruno,” “Good Fight,” “Elementary,” “Deception,” “Madam Secretary.” Training: MFA, Brown/Trinity Rep. Company Member of Fiasco Theater and The Actors Center.

MATENIN SANGARE (Stage Directions, Her First Thanksgiving / Nanny Town) is a first Gen Ivorian American, who graduated with her BFA in Acting degree from Brooklyn College. She was recently seen in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play directed by Candis C. Jones at Cincinnati Playhouse. Her other works include Eclipsed at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Corellion (a feature-length audio drama), and Unearthly Visitants (a collaboration piece). Follow her on Instagram @_MateninSangare. “Never stop dreaming!”

CHERELLE CARGILL (Queen, Nanny Town) is an actor, voiceover artist, ADR Voice casting coordinator and award-winning producer living in New York. She is co-owner of HRCasting a NY based ADR Voice company that specializes in Loop Group and voice matches for film and television. You’ve seen her work on “Jessica Jones,” “Madame Secretary” and Nickelodeon’s interstitial series “Home Court” and you’ve heard her voice on spots for OWN tv and ESPN. The NY Times calls this NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate a “regal cocktail” and her film Twinkle won the Audience Choice Award at the Brooklyn Girl Film Festival. She is a 2014 NBC American Black Film Festival Finalist who looks forward to producing her first web series. When not lending her considerable talents to the arts and entertainment community, Cherelle is a devoted wife and mom of three who loves to travel.

KELLY McANDREW (Sasha, Nanny Town) most recently starred as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Denver Center Theatre. Broadway: Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring Ned Beatty and Margo Martindale Off-Broadway: The Thin Place by Lucas Hnath at Playwrights Horizons, Novenas for a Lost Hospital by Cusi Cram at Rattlestick Theatre, Men on Boats (Playwrights Horizons/Clubbed Thumb), Perfect Arrangement (Primary Stages), Abundance (TACT), Almost, Maine (Transport Group), Good Television (Atlantic Theater Company), and Still Life (MCC). Regional theatre includes: The Humana Festival of New American Plays (2016, 2017 and 2019), Westport Playhouse, Yale Rep, ART, The Guthrie, The Old Globe, Arena Stage, City Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, Pittsburgh Public. TV: “Daredevil” (recurring), “The Sinner,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Good Fight,” “Orange is the New Black” (recurring), “House of Cards,” “Elementary,” “SVU,” “Smash,” “Law & Order,” “Gossip Girl.” Film: Peas & Carrots (upcoming), Island Zero, Appropriate Behavior (Sundance 2014), In the Family (2011 SPIRIT nomination), Everybody’s Fine (with Robert DeNiro). Training: UMKC.

SHAWN RANDALL (William, Nanny Town) is an actor, poet, singer-songwriter, playwright, musician, freestyle emcee, and producer. Born and raised in Brooklyn. He made his debut as a playwright Off-Broadway at The Cherry Lane Theater as a part of their 2020 Mentor Project. Shawn is a proud actor member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The LAByrinth Theater. He is the founder and host of Symphonics Live. Symphonics Live is a multi-disciplined evening that showcases the finest singer-songwriters and poets in NY. Along with elements of dance and improvisation, the show promotes Generosity, Love, Integrity, and Creativity through the continual exploration of humanity through the performing and visual arts. Symphonics Live has been featured at the Blue Note, Joe’s Pub, The Highline Ballroom and The Bowery Poetry Club. Shawn has extensive experience in the theater, working with the acclaimed Blue Man Group, and performing at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, the Bardavon Opera House, The Kennedy Center, INTAR Theatre, La Mama E.T.C., and Brooklyn Academy of Music. http://www.shawnalfredrandall.com

JAIME LINCOLN SMITH (Romeo, Nanny Town) Jaime’s selected credits include: Broadway: Holler If Ya Hear Me. Off Broadway: Pipeline, Ruined, Shakespeare In The Park: Much Ado About Nothing. Regional: Numerous theatres across the country TV/FILM: Bull, “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Law & Order,” to name a few.

MONIQUE A. ROBINSON (Terry, Nanny Town) is a multi-hyphenated artivist who uses the art of storytelling as a way to hold space for others. Her theatre credits include: Séance (National Black Theatre); Iyom (The Workshop Theatre); (Ensemble Studio Theatre); G.O.A.T. (Queen’s Theatre); Fairview (Berkeley Repertory Theater-West Coast Premier) where Monique was a Theater Bay Award Nominee for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role for her portrayal of Keisha; Midwives (George Street Playhouse); Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theater); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare & Company); Onscreen credits: “Younger” (Paramount), “See You Yesterday” (Netflix), “Tell Me A Story,” (CBSAllAccess), “Product of My Environment” (NYCIFF Nominee); “A Ring,” and “F.A.W.K.” Monique received her M.F.A. in acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington.

JOEL DE LA FUENTE (Z, You, I, We) is an American actor. A veteran of stage and screens, Joel has spent the last ten years touring Jeanne Sakata’s one-person play, Hold These Truths around the country to critical acclaim. Also during this time, he starred as Chief Inspector Kido in Amazon Prime’s most viewed series, “The Man in the High Castle” and as Dr. Johann Pryce in Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning, “Hemlock Grove.” He can currently be seen opposite Patrick Dempsey & Alessandro Borghi in the international series, “Devils.” He is a happy husband and dedicated dad. For more information, please visit: www.joeldelafuente.com and @joeldelafuente

MIA KATIGBAK (Q, You, I, We) is the actor-manager and co-founder of the award-winning, New York City based NAATCO, with whom she has acted extensively, most recently in Out of Time (a NAATCO commission); the US premiere of Caryl Churchill’s What If If Only, a remote live production; and Henry VI, Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts. Selected productions include Russian Troll Farm, an on-line, live-edited play co-produced by TheaterWorks (CT), TheatreSquared (AR), and The Civilians (NY); Headlands (LCT3); The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group); Ivo van Hove’s Scenes From a Marriage (NYTW); Good Person of Szechwan (Foundry/Public Theater). Other NYC: Clubbed Thumb, Soho Rep, Ma-Yi, Target Margin, Bushwick Starr, Intar. Regional work: Yale Rep and Long Wharf (CT), the Humana Festival, Actors Theater in Louisville (KY), Two River Theater (NJ), Berkeley Rep (CA), and the Guthrie (MN). International: Manila, Philippines and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Television credits include “How to Get Away With Murder” (ABC), “The Sinner” (USA), “Chicago PD” (NBC). Awards and recognitions include: USA Fellow (2021); TCG’s 2017 Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellow for Distinguished Achievement; Special Drama Desk Award 2019; Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theater. She holds a BA from Barnard College and an MA from Columbia University.

JUSTIN AHDOOT (Sam, Quality Cellular) NYC: Off-Broadway: Sleep No More (Punch Drunk); Off-Off Broadway: Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom and The Mysteries (The Flea Theater), Regional: ABCD (Barrington Stage Co.), Disgraced (Pittsburgh Public), Cymbeline (Richmond Shakespeare); performed his solo show Justin versus at Richmond Triangle Players, and Uncle Tom: Deconstructed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. TV: Upcoming Fleishman Is In Trouble (FX), Little America (Apple TV), The Good Cop (Netflix), Law & Order: SVU, The Americans, Blue Bloods. BFA Virginia Commonwealth University. www.justinahdoot.com

BRENDAN DALTON’s (Bruce, Quality Cellular) credits include: Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons), Plano (Clubbed Thumb), Blue Man Group (NYC, Chicago, Orlando), This Girl Laughs… (Atlantic for Kids), Once Upon a Time… and Tar and Feather (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Place We Built (The Flea), Intuitive Men (The Brick, The Tank), Youngblood Brunch and Asking for Trouble (Ensemble Studio Theatre), B.B.’s Inferno (The PIT), and readings/workshops with Ars Nova, New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth Theater Company, and Primary Stages. TV: “Dickinson,” “Younger,” “FBI.” BFA in Theater (University of the Arts). www.brendan-dalton.com

JOHN DiMINO (Stage Directions, Quality Cellular) is an actor, helicopter pilot, and proud cat dad. He is a frequent collaborator of Alex Riad having performed in his last two shows, The Floor is Lava (La Mama) and Wild Parrots of Campbell (Cherry Lane). He got his BFA in Acting from NYU and has been seen performing on stages throughout NYC for the past 10 years. @johnispilot www.johndimino.me

ALYSSA KEMPINSKI, she/her (Jennifer, Quality Cellular) is an actor, producer and artist. TV/Film credits include “The Deuce”, “High Fidelity” & “FBI”, Theater credits, The Wolves (LCT). Currently producing Enough at The Lenfest Center for the Arts & the sequel to the international cult hit The VelociPastor. She spent the past two years deeply involved in grassroots NYC waste diversion efforts, started her own business refurbishing & rehoming trashed items, and was featured in the Wall Street Journal for her work. www.AlyssaKempinski.com @monalyssasmiles

KATHLEEN McNENNY (Louise, Quality Cellular) Broadway: The Minutes, The Father, Enemy of the People, Fish in the Dark, Death of a Salesman, Coram Boy, The Constant Wife, After the Fall, A Few Good Men. Regional selected credits: American Underground and The Birds (Barrington Stage), Doll’s House Part 2 (Westin Playhouse), Death of a Salesman (Pittsburgh Playhouse), OutSide Mullingar (Philadelphia Theater Co.), Beyond Therapy and The Good German (Westport Playhouse), Moon for the Misbegotten (McCarter), Richard III (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival). TV: “The Bite” on CBS Spectrum, recurred on “The Enemy Within,” “Blind Spot,” “Elementary,” “Black List,” “The Good Wife,” “Law and Order”: original, “CI” and “SVU.” FILMS: Morning Glory, Music and Lyrics, School of Rock, Roses are Blind. For more information go to KathleenMcNenny.com

ALOK TEWARI (Nabil, Quality Cellular). Broadway: The Band’s Visit. Other theatre: Dom Juan (Bard Fisher); India Pale Ale (MTC); Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep); The Band’s Visit (Atlantic); Awake and Sing! (Public / NAATCO); A Fable, Through the Yellow Hour, War (Rattlestick); Bunty Berman Presents, Rafta, Rafta… (New Group). Television: “The Good Fight,“ “Ramy,” “FBI,” “Billions,” “BULL,” “Looming Tower,” “Iron Fist,” “House of Cards,” “Madam Secretary,” “Homeland,” “Fringe.” Film: Love-40, Pirates of Somalia, Shelter, Brooklyn’s Finest.

VIVIANA VALERIA (Grace, Quality Cellular). Born and raised in Miami to Cuban/Honduran parents, Viviana made her way to New York. After graduating as a dance major at AMDA NY, she studied acting under Peter Jensen at Terry Schreiber Studios. Theatre credits include: Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven (dir. John Ortiz, Atlantic Theater Company, NYT Critic’s Pick), Two Sides (Planet Connections), The Motherf**ker With The Hat (T. Schreiber Studio). Television: “Jessica Jones” (dir. Krysten Ritter). Proud member of LAByrinth Theater Company.

AARON ROMAN WEINER (Frank, Quality Cellular). Broadway: Fool For Love. Selected Off-Broadway: The Insurgents, Radiance, and Thinner Than Water, all with LAByrinth Theater Company. Lone Star Spirits (Crowded Outlet), 9 Circles (Sheen Center), Goodbye Cruel World (Roundtable Ensemble), Two Thirds Home (Broken Watch). Selected regional: Swimmers (Marin Theater Company), Rounding Third (Hangar Theatre), A Steady Rain (TheaterWorks, Hartford), The Glass Menagerie (Steppenwolf Garage), Touch (Jeff Award nomination, Chicago), Symmetry (After Dark Award, Chicago). Television: Recurring roles on “The Americans,” “Crisis,” and “Made in Jersey.” Other TV includes “Suspicion,” “StartUp,” “FBI,” “Chicago PD,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Sinner,” “The Blacklist,” “The Following,” “Person of Interest.” Films include The Post, Side Effects, Public Enemies. Upcoming: “Happiness for Beginners” on Netflix and “The Big Door Prize” on Apple. He is the Artistic Director and proud member of LAByrinth Theater Company.

MICHI BARALL (Mom/Jamholder and others, Exotic Deadly) As an actor, Michi has appeared in roles off-Broadway (including BAM, EST, MCC, NYSF/Public, Play Co, Signature, Vineyard and the Women’s Project) and regionally (including Arena Stage, ATL, ART, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, Intiman, La Jolla, Seattle Rep, and Williamstown). Her dance-theatre piece, Rescue Me, was produced by Ma-Yi in 2010 and her musical, Peer Gynt and The Norwegian Hapa Band, premiered in 2107 at the ART/NY Theatre. Recently, Michi co-wrote the short film Sophocles in Staten Island with Sung Rno, directed by Jack Tamburri and produced by Ma-Yi Studio. She is currently working on a children’s play commissioned by Children’s Theatre Center in Minneapolis. Michi holds degrees from Stanford University (AB), NYU (MFA, Grad Acting) and Columbia University (PhD, Theatre/English & Comparative Literature). She has taught at Columbia University, NYU and MIT and is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance at Purchase College.

SIHO ELLSMORE (Stage Directions, Exotic Deadly) is an Australian born & bred actor based in New York City. Siho has worked with Ma-Yi, Target Margin, The Drama League, La MaMa, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Actor’s Studio and has appeared on “Neighbours” (Australia TV), MTV and Comedy Central. Siho specializes in commercials, audiobooks, animation and video game voice over. Siho’s voice can be heard in campaigns for AIG, Hinge, Cognizant and EA Sports to name a few. She has voiced animated characters for Crayola and Mattel. Siho was the in-game voice of the Junker Queen in the hit game Overwatch and is the voice of the NPC Xu Feng in Vampire: The Masquerade: Swansong.

JON HOCHE (Ben/Dr. Lyle and others, Exotic Deadly) Broadway: King Kong: Alive On Broadway (Voice Of King Kong/Puppeteer). Off-Broadway: Soft Power (The Public Theater – Grammy Nominated), Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club), Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption Of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater/Vampire Cowboys Theater), Hello, From The Children Of Planet Earth (Playwright’s Realm). National Tour: Warhorse (Puppeteer/Puppet Captain). Regional: Revenge Song (Geffen Playhouse), Seven Lonely Mammoths Wander New England (Two River Theater). Macbeth (Red House Arts Center), Between Two Knees (Yale Repertory Theatre).  Awards: 2018 Chita Rivera Award, 2018 Outer Critics’ Circle Award –                                           www.jonhoche.com @Jonhoche

KENDYL ITO, she/her (Ami, Exotic Deadly) is a NYC based theatre-maker. She was recently seen as Dawn in the limited-engagement tour of Waitress. Other theatre credits include: Soft Power (Pulitzer Prize finalist & Grammy-nominated album); Wild Goose Dreams (The Public); Locusts (Yale Carlotta Festival); Matilda (1st National Tour). She also works extensively in new play development, fervently bringing stories of underrepresented communities to the stage in the hopes to create a more inclusive and equitable industry that reflects the world.

RAYMOND J. LEE (Matt/Dr. Steele and others, Exotic Deadly) is a proud Asian American actor! Ray was most recently in the companies of Trading Places at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA and Once Upon A One More Time at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Broadway credits include Aladdin, Anything Goes, Groundhog Day, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Mamma Mia!  Other NY credits include Soft Power (The Public), Mack & Mabel (Encores!), The Wild Party (Encores!), Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Public), and Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical.  Film/TV credits include Marriage Story, Fire Island, The Greatest Showman, Ghost Town, “The First Lady,” “Law & Order,” “Succession,” “Billions,” “Red Oaks,” and “Smash.” His voiceover work includes projects for Dreamworks, Netflix (including Squid Game), and numerous audiobook companies. Ray is a proud graduate of Northwestern University and is repped by Nicolosi & Co. and Sullivan Talent Group. Follow @raymondjlee on the socials and visit www.raymondjlee.com

TIFFANY VILLARIN (Exotic Deadly) Select theater credits include …What The End Will Be (Roundabout Theatre), Do You Feel Anger? (Vineyard Theatre/Actors Theatre), Teenage Dick (Public Theatre,Ma-Yi), Nevada Tan (Audible Theatre Play), The Grown Up (Actors Theatre), Peerless (Yale Rep/Marin Theatre/Cherry Lane), House Rules (Ma-Yi). Film/Tv Credits include The Surrogate, Certainty, Shadow, “New Amsterdam,” “The Good Fight,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Elementary,” “Instinct,” “Bull,” “The Blacklist,” “Gotham.” She has a BFA from the Theatre School Of DePaul University and is a member of The Actors Center.

JOHNNY M. WU (Ojichan/Kenji and others, Exotic Deadly) currently plays Dr. Randall Shentu on NBC’s “Chicago Med.” Other TV credits include recurring roles on “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC), and “24” (FOX). Recent guest stars include “Manifest” (NBC), “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “High Maintenance” (HBO), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Kevin Can Wait” (CBS). Film: A Journal For Jordan (dir. Denzel Washington, Sony Pictures), Hold Fast, Good Luck (dir. Denny Wong), Tracers (dir. Daniel Benmayor, Lionsgate), Limitless (dir. Neil Burger, Universal Pictures). Theatre: Chinglish Broadway (dir. Leigh Silverman, Longacre Theatre), The Headlands (dir. Knud Adams, Lincoln Center Theater), Noises Off (dir. Meredith McDonough, Guthrie Theatre), Glengarry Glen Ross (dir. Christopher Ashley, La Jolla Playhouse). Johnny has taught at NYU, Pace University, LIU, Rutgers, and will begin teaching at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale in September. Johnny has an MFA in Acting from UC San Diego, and a BA in Theatre from SUNY Binghamton. He lives in New York City.

VIEN HONG (Long, love you long time) After immigrating to the US from Vietnam at a young age, Vien developed his craft within the Experimental Theater Wing at NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. His early work includes TV and film roles alongside actors such as Ben Affleck and Sam Rockwell in the film Glory Daze, and George Clooney in the iconic TV series “ER”. After a fifteen-year hiatus from acting, during which he attended to raising his two young boys, he has returned to the stage and screen. Most recently, he has appeared in several shows including a large recurring arc on NBC’s critically acclaimed series “This Is Us”, as well as a recurring role on the final season of TNT’s “Animal Kingdom”. While renewing his commitment to acting, his daily routine continues to revolve around his family – helping his teenage sons with their school work, and cooking meals for his wife, who works long hours as a nurse.

DAVID LEE HUYNH (Huy, love you long time) Theatre: Once Upon A (korean) Time (Ma-Yi), The Merchant of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience/Shakespeare Theatre), Henry VI (NAATCO), Mrs. Warren’s Profession (Gingold Theatrical Group), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group), P#SSYC*CK KNOW NOTHING (Target Margin), No-No Boy, Emperor’s Nightingale (Pan Asian Rep), Vietgone (Mixed Blood, TheatreSquared), Twelfth Night (Alley Theatre), etc. TV/Film: “Blue Bloods,” “FBI,” Solitary, “Children of the Dust.” TEDx Speaker: “Asian Enough?” Founding member of The Sống Collective. MFA: University of Houston Professional Actor Training Program | www.davidleehuynh.com Cảm ơn mỗi người đã giúp minh đến đây.

BELLE LE (Tâm, love you long time) (she/her) is a queer, Vietnamese-American artist born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in San Jose, California (Muwekma Ohlone Land). She recently graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Drama with a BFA in acting, and she is in love with people, the sun, art, and her 3 small dogs. Belle is passionate about telling Asian stories and creating unapologetic art, specifically about human rights and mental health advocacy.

JULIE TAM PHAM, she/her/hers (Mai, love you long time) is elated (pinch her!) to be working with such amazing talents on this close-to-the-heart production. She just wrapped on the feature film, www.rachelormont.com. TV credits include: “Blue Bloods” on CBS opposite Donny Wahlberg and The OA on Netflix. Some favorite theatre roles: J.N. Pham with Ego Actus Theatre’s A Black and White Cookie and Geri from Lanford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain at Bridge Street Theatre. Julie is a trained Meisner actor from William Esper Studio, NYC, and a graduate of The UCB Improv Theater. She’s represented by Multi-Ethnic Talent and Take 3 Talent Agency. Catch more of her at www.missjuliepham.com before she runs off on another marathon race or chasing after her toddler.

ALEX VINH (Stage Directions, love you long time) Alex will be making his Broadway debut with Kimberly Akimbo this fall! Off-Broadway: Snow in Midsummer (Classic Stage Company) and Kimberly Akimbo (Atlantic Theater Company). Selected regional credits: Spring Awakening (Theatre Under the Stars), Office Hour (Circle Theatre), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Mill Mountain Theatre). TV: WeCrashed (Apple TV+) and Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). BFA from Texas Christian University. IG: @alexhvinh.

NGOZI ANYANWU (Playwright, Co-Producer, Kelechi, My Name is Beatrice). Education: University of California, San Diego (MFA in Acting), Point Park University (BA Theatre Arts). Acting: The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, The City Theatre, Barrington Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and The Mark Taper Forum. Television credits include starring in the upcoming limited series “Invitation to a Bonfire” on AMC. Playwriting: Seven Deadly Sins (Drama Desk Award) Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, and Nike or We Don’t Need Another Hero. Good Grief (Kilroys List 2016, semi-finalist Princess Grace, Humanitas Award) was produced at Center Theatre Group (the Kirk Douglas) in Los Angeles (2017) and Off-Broadway at The Vineyard Theatre (2018) which Anyanwu also starred in. NIKE (kilroys list 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T. and Space on Ryder Farm and New York Stage and Film. The Homecoming Queen (Kilroys list 2017, Leah Ryan Finalist) had its world premiere at Atlantic Theater Company in 2018 which also had a sold-out run. She also recently wrote and starred in her play The Last of the Love Letters at Atlantic Theater Company (2021). Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film, and Page 73. She is also commissioned with NYU, Two Rivers, The Old Globe, Steppenwolf, and Atlantic Theater Company and is the recipient of the Creative Rebuild New York program, where she will be an artist in Residence with Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre.

PATRICE JOHNSON CHEVANNES (Therapist, My Name is Beatrice) is an award-winning, Brooklyn-based actress, writer, filmmaker, educator, director and the executive producer of God-and-all-o-wee Productions and Ubigwitus Records. She was born in Jamaica, West Indies and grew up in New York City. She studied acting at The City College of New York (CUNY), graduating Phi Beta Kappa, with a BFA. Her credits include Racing Demon and The Crucible on Broadway with Sir Richard Eyre, where she worked with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. Patrice also performed with Sir Patrick Stewart, opposite whom she played Desdemona, in Othello. Her Off-Broadway credits include Pericles with Sir Trevor Nunn (TFANA); Tamburlaine with Sir Michael Boyd (TFANA); Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven with Stephen Adly Guirgis with John Ortiz, (Atlantic Theater Company); runboyrun/In Old Age, with Awoye Timpo and Loretta Greco, (NYTW). In 2020, Patrice garnered Drama Desk and Drama League nominations for her work in runboyrun/In Old Age, and an Audelco nomination for her role in Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven. Her television credits include: “Chambers,” “POSE,” “SHRILL,” “EVIL,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The First Lady.” Patrice is on the faculty of The New School, where she teaches acting in The School Of Drama.

ANDREW HOVELSON (Graham, My Name is Beatrice) Broadway:  Lucky Guy (w/ Tom Hanks), The Father (w/ Frank Langella), Enemy of the People (MTC).  Off Broadway:  Mother of the Maid (w/ Glenn Close, The Public), An Ordinary Muslim (NYTW), Othello (NYSF), As You Like It (NYSF), Tamburlaine The Great (TFANA), Golden Age (MTC), Life Sucks (Wheelhouse Theater), Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine (writ./dir Ruben Santiago-Hudson).  TV:  “The Blacklist”, “Blue Bloods”, “FBI”, “Shades of Blue”, “Mysteries of Laura”, “Turn: Washington’s Spies”, “The Good Wife”, “Unforgettable”, “ER”.  Film: Stranger in the Dunes, The Magnificent Meyersons. Andrew stars in the upcoming feature film Your Ears Shall Bleed, released later this year. Training: MFA NYU Graduate Acting, BFA Guthrie Theater. Andrew has participated in the development of over 100 new plays and musicals in the last 10 years at theaters across NYC. He lives in Hell’s Kitchen with his wife and 3 sons in an apartment they have named “The Testosterone Factory.”

PIERRE MBALLA (Stage Directions, My Name is Beatrice) is super excited to partake in this reading. A proud first generation Cameroonian, he is also a graduate of Point Park University BFA in Musical theatre Program.

TOBY ONWUMERE (Obinna, My Name is Beatrice) will next be seen opposite Florence Pugh in the independent film A Good Person, directed by Zach Braff and in a recurring role in the Hulu series “Reasonable Doubt,” produced by Kerry Washington. Most recently, Onwumere was seen in The Matrix Resurrections, which reunited him with his “Sense8” creator Lana Wachowski where he made his professional debut in the series regular role of ‘Capheus’. Other TV credits include a recurring role in the penultimate season of the hit FOX series “Empire.” Toby received his BFA from The University of Evansville and his MFA from UCSD. He is a classically trained actor who has appeared in several Shakespeare plays at both The Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival and Great River Shakespeare Festival. He was born in Dayton, Ohio to Nigerian parents Fidelis and Prisca.

CHIBUBA OSUALA (formerly Christine Osuala) (Claire, My Name is Beatrice) is a first generation, Nigerian-American actress returning to the stage after acquiring her Masters in Arts, and Trauma Studies from NYU Gallatin School of Interdisciplinary Arts. There, she studied the connection between systemic oppression and abuse, and the passing on of trauma between mothers and daughters of the Africana Diaspora, specifically of Igbo-Nigerian descent. Thus, she is excited to be a part of the Atlantic Theater Company’s First Gen MixFest Festival and My Name Is Beatrice by Ngozi Anyanwu, which addresses these issues. In the past, Osuala has worked with theatres such as The Labyrinth, Playwright’s Realm, New York Theatre Workshop, and The National Black Theatre; as well as with Sundance’s Theatre Lab (MENA). She trained at NYU Tisch Graduate Acting and SUNY Purchase BFA Acting programs respectively.

EKELE UKEGBU (Beatrice, My Name is Beatrice). My name is Ekele Ukegbu and I am a rising senior at New York University, majoring in Drama at the NYU Tisch School of Arts. I am a multi-hyphenate performer as a singer, dancer and actor. I am also the winner of the 2019 Roger Rees Awards and the 2019 Jimmy Awards as Best Actress. Throughout high school I have acted the following roles in musicals: Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Annie in Annie, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, Deena Jones in Dreamgirls, and Aida in Aida. I also had the opportunity of performing as Aida on the Minskoff Theater stage at the Jimmy Awards. I trained primarily at the Meisner Studio at NYU and starred as Haikumom in the play Water by the Spoonful my sophomore year. As an aspiring actor, I believe that acting gives people permission to express their inner selves. Acting is a story of the human experience, and whether it’s on stage or on camera, it produces a profound impact that affects the audience. As an evolving actor, I am passionate about learning from others and developing my craft and I enjoy being part of such a process.